The Basque Country’s public health service, Osakidetza, has, following the total solar eclipse on 12 August 2026 a total of 58 Personen for mild Augenbeschwerden complaints. 22 cases were handled by the Primary care, and 36 by the hospitals’ A&E departments . The provisional tally covers reports up to midnight on Wednesday. According to the Hospital Universitario Donostia its emergency department had treated no cases by then that were clearly attributable to watching the solar eclipse.
Attributed statements: Oihana Ormazabal, head of a section in the emergency department of the Hospital Universitario Donostia, said on Thursday that the reported complaints were mostly mild. They included brief visual disturbances, black spots, flashes of light, itching or an unpleasant foreign-body sensation. No serious eye damage clearly attributable to watching the solar eclipse had been identified by then. The visits had not affected the normal running of the emergency departments.
Established background: Before the astronomical event, authorities in Euskadi had repeatedly warned against looking at the sun without protection and advised people to use certified protective glasses. One medically relevant condition is solar retinopathy: prolonged or unprotected viewing of the sun can cause photochemical damage to the retina, which may sometimes be permanent. Temporary visual disturbances, glare effects or irritation are also possible after unsafe viewing and are usually assessed on an outpatient basis.
Context and implications: The fact that the 58 people recorded mostly presented with mild symptoms and that no serious cases had been reported by midnight suggests that prevention advice and the availability of certified protective glasses were effective. In healthcare practice, it remains important to offer those affected accessible advice, explain typical warning signs (e.g. persistent central shadows or a marked loss of visual acuity) and arrange follow-up checks where objective findings are present. No claims about possible long-term effects are warranted at this stage; these would require ophthalmological follow-up examinations and systematic monitoring by Osakidetza.
Facts, attributions and forecasts: The figures and timings come from statements by the Basque health service. Assessments of severity and how services operated are attributed to Oihana Ormazabal. This report makes no forecasts about longer-term visual disturbances.
Editor: Andreas M. Brucker (Article created with AI assistance).